The Northern Sustainable Development Forum (the Forum), co-organized by the Government of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) of Russia and the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments (NEAR), was held online on September 28. 111 representatives from 32 member regional governments from China, Russia, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea attended the Forum. Under the coordination of Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office, officials from Ningxia Science and Technology Department, Ningxia Commerce Department, Yinchuan Foreign Affairs Office, Shizuishan Foreign Affairs Office and Zhongwei Commerce Bureau participated in the Forum.

Themed on “New Ways of International Cooperation Development in the Post-Pandemic World”, the Forum played a positive role for NEAR members to share experience in pandemic response and work and production resumption, boosting post-pandemic exchanges and cooperation. Officials from Sakha Republic and Amurskaya Oblast of Russia, Gyeongsangbuk-do and Sejong City of the Republic of Korea, and experts from the United Nations Human Settlements Program and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi Province delivered speeches on international cooperation, business promotion, public health and pandemic response during and after the pandemic.

The Forum, a regular event of the NEAR, aims at promoting exchanges and cooperation among its members. Attendees noted that the Forum had inspired them in local governance and wished to have more exchanges with the help of Ningxia Foreign Affairs Office.